Cluster Manager Java Console Usage

[TheNomad]

I have too many clusters, names of which differ by only one or two characters at a time and searching for the cluster I want to log in, takes up a lot of time, especially in a catastrophic situation, it is unbearable.

I asked around and got the answer that, the labels in the cluster manager main GUI can not be modified. I am wondering if this is a true statement and if not, how I can change these names ? My cluster manager Java Consiole runs on Win7 professional and my clusters are all on Linux (RHEL) platform.

Short of changing the names of the clusters on GUI, can I possibly bring up the cluster that I Am trying to login to, from the command line or by clicking a custom windows icon such as :

"C:\Program Files\VERITAS\Cluster Manager\bin\ClusterManager.exe" <cluster_name | node_name | something_else>

so that I can create batch files for each of my clusters, in a more meaningful way than a cluster name only marginally different from another cluster name.

Thank you

[mikebounds]

I am pretty sure you can't change labels in Java GUI.  When you first connect to a cluster, you use the hostname and so you could resolve this in your local hosts file to something more clearer, but I can't remember if after you disconnect, the GUI shows the cluster name or the hostname - so this may work.

You should probably consider changing actual cluster names as this will NOT effect your applications as the cluster name is for management only and since the name is causing problems for management you should change it.  To change:

1. Make sure cluster config is closed:
   haconf -dump -makero
    
2. Force stop cluster, leaving applications by running (on one node)
   hastop -all -force
    
3. Change name of cluster in /etc/VRTSvcs/conf/config/main.cf
    
4. Start cluster by running (on all nodes)
   hastart

You may want to try out VOM which is a free product for managing several clusters and means you don't have to log into each cluster, you just log into VOM.  I used this a few years ago and then you could sort clusters by location and so sorting clusters into groups may help and I imagine there are other categories you can sort by too.

Mike

[TheNomad]

Mike,

Thanks for the answer but at my workplace, our monitoring is dependent on cluster names, as well as the cluster names are in association with the server names (again one character difference between cluster name and the server names it contains), so changing the cluster name may not be that big of a deal as far as the operation viewpoint, but it is a big deal for me and my workplace. So, I can not do that. If I do, it throws a big monkeywrench into the spinning wheel. I prefer to keep my job if you can catch my drift :)

The VOM idea on the other hand is a more workable solution, because

1. It is free (we are trying not to spend money on cosmetic items)

2. I can create a container for each of my clusters and name the containes as I desire, locally on my win7 machine, without messing with main.cf or anything in the cluster.

But I have never dealt with VOM. So I am hoping this won't be a steep learning curve.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will post my findings here sometime next week.

[mikebounds]

VOM is quite staightward to install, but just in case you are not aware, this needs to be installed on a server, not a client like VCS java GUI.  So you can install VOM on a Linux server or Windows 2003 (which can be a Virtual Machine if you want) and then you (and other people) connect to VOM via a browser.  So containers you create would be on the VOM server, not your win7 machine, but this doesn't interfere with cluster itself so won't effect your monitoring.

Mike

[Wally_Heim]

Hi TheNomad,

VOM is free and on its main page will show you if you have any failed/faulted clusters.  Then you can drill down into the failed/faulted cluster without initially knowing what clusters are in that state. 

The Java GUI shows the hostname or IP for the connection (before making the connection to the cluster.)  After connecting to the cluster this changes to the cluster name.

A slightly different approach to the making the host file entries that Mike recommended is that I see some customers (on Windows) putting in a Lanman resource in their ClusterService group.  Then they set this to a name such as the cluster name and have it update DNS.  I know that RHEL has a DNS update resource but I'm not sure what it is off hand.

Thank you,

Wally

[Wally_Heim]

I've sent a request to the Engineering team to see if their is a CLI that we can use to open Cluster Explorer with a specfic host connection already defined.  I'll let you know if I hear something back.

Thank you,

Wally

[Wally_Heim]

Hi,

Our development team responded to my inqury.  However, it was not good.  The Java GUI does not have a CLI option to allow shortcuts to specific cluster connections at this time. 

With most or all of the GUI development moving forward going to VOM, you might want to investigate if VOM will meet your needs.

Thank you,

Wally

[joseph_dangelo]

I have in the past had to use SSH and X11 tunneling to redirect the display from the JAVA gui to my local workstation.  Putty + any XWindowing software would allow you create individual connection profiles for each cluster.  I will admit that it is not the most elegant solution but it may provide you with at least a temporary fix until you can become more acclimated with VOM.

You will need to make sure that the Java gui package is installed.  The command to launch the gui from the CLI us hagui.

You can dowload the packages here:

http://www.symantec.com/products/otherresources.jsp?pcid=pcat_storage&pvid=operations_manager_1

Joe D

[TheNomad]

Thanks to you both for your efforts

@Wally: 

I thought that would be the answer, i.e., no CLI access for windows command line. Thought I'd try. I have never used the VOM. I have been told that we already have one set up but no one uses it. May be it is my ticket to bliss. We'll see

@Joe

I used to do this, i.e., launch the java app local to the cluster and export the display to my windows workstation, running an x-emulator, but at the rate we are keeping you employed :), i.e., deploying clusters here at my work place, if I go that route, it will add something to my to-do list and maintenance list for each cluster/server I deploy.So, it is not a feasible solution at this time. With cluster counts less than 10, I could scrape by, with 50+ clusters, growing rapidly, not so much anymore.

If anyone else has any way of hacking windows registry or any other method (say launching by cluster number etc) things that I may not be thinking right now, I am all ears, as long as the changes I make is only gooing to stay in my local PC and will only be available to me. We have several admins and I don;t want to upset anyone's working conventions.

Thanks again.

[mikebounds · Accepted solution]

Did you try using your local hosts file so in \windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts use whatever name you want and then use this name in the java GUI.  This will work initially, but when you connect, the cluster name will be displayed (but this would happen if you could kick of a particular cluster from the CLI too).  What I don't know is if when you disconnect, the java GUI goes back to the host name or keeps the cluster name from when it connected.  If it does use the cluster name, then it may be stored in a text file that you can edit.

Mike

[TheNomad]

Thanks a lot Mike..

It works like a charm. 

I entered an easily recognizable name for my cluster, this time it was an SAP training cluster and I named it thusly. And it sticks after I shutdown the Java Console and bring it back up. Label stays there as I type it, which is the name I put in my local windows hosts file. Once connected, it gets preceeded by the actual cluster name but I can live with that as long as there is some reference to the cluster name I gave it to, in that little rectangle, pointing to that particular cluster. 

I attached two screenshots showing the case. VCS1 image is when I fire up the Java Console app on my win7 workstation abd VCS2 image is what it becomes, after I type my admin username and password. I Blurred out the actual names of the clusters but these blurred areas were the names which only differed by one or two characters at a time. 

This will be a relief on my already strained eyes.

Thanks a lot again.